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With limited cuts made by the New York Islanders so far, it’s still somewhat difficult to predict what the team's final roster could look like.
There are about 17 forwards who all have a shot to make the team and with Erik Gustafsson on a professional tryout, the defense group isn’t finalized yet either. Here’s a quick prediction of how the team’s 23-man roster could look to start the year.
GOALIES (2): Ilya Sorokin, Semyon Varlamov
No questions about the team’s two netminders and it's unlikely that the Islanders would use a roster spot for a third goalie, being Cory Schneider.
DEFENSE (7): Zdeno Chara, Noah Dobson, Andy Greene, Erik Gustafsson, Scott Mayfield, Adam Pelech, Ryan Pulock
With the addition of Zdeno Chara, all six of the team’s defense slots have already been set. Considering how many forwards the Islanders will have to choose from as well, it’s likely that we see the team go with seven defenders instead of eight.
The big question mark is whether Erik Gustafsson will earn a role with the team. While he’s an offensive defenseman and may not necessarily fit with the team’s defense group, he has quite a bit of NHL experience and there’s a good chance that the team will offer him a contract and use him as a seventh defenseman. If not, we could see Sebastian Aho or even Robin Salo on the roster – but I’ll bet that Gustafsson gets the spot.
FORWARDS (14): Mathew Barzal, Josh Bailey, Anthony Beauvillier, Kieffer Bellows, Cal Clutterbuck, Casey Cizikas, Anders Lee, Matt Martin, Brock Nelson, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Kyle Palmieri, Richard Panik, Zach Parise, Oliver Wahlstrom
There are 11 forwards who should be locks for roster spots, being any regular member of the lineup last season, along with Zach Parise. Despite comments made by Barry Trotz about Oliver Wahlstrom not having a strong camp, I’d like to think Wahlstrom should have a spot as well. This leaves two more roster spots, with Kieffer Bellows, Michael Dal Colle, Ross Johnston, Leo Komarov and Richard Panik all in contention. Anatoly Golyshev could be considered as well.
I’d say Dal Colle and possibly Johnston are the two players who are the least likely to earn a spot. Panik should get a roster spot, being that he could probably provide the most consistent impact of the bunch and could play in different places in the lineup. He'd certainly provide more value than Komarov.
This leaves the final spot down to either Kieffer Bellows or Leo Komarov. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Leo Komarov back on the roster to start the year as well, given his usage when Anders Lee was injured. However, Bellows looked good in preseason action and it has to be taken into account that he’s no longer exempt from waivers. The battle for the last two spots could go many different ways, but I’ll be optimistic and say that Bellows and Panik make the roster.
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